Tag Archives: Peeta Mellark

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction.” It seems the color of the sun will forever play an interesting role in Katniss Everdeen’s life… Here she is with fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) in The Hunger Games. The two make quite an attractive pair in a bright blue suit, and a soft, non-threatening yellow dress – nothing like what Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) has worn prior to this moment in her young life. Without revealing too much about the series or the film, this seemingly happy moment will only be short-lived… Let the countdown to Catching Fire begin!

“Let’s get Katniss Everdeen to her wedding in style.“ The Hunger Games is a novel about survival, starvation, torture and fighting to the death, yet apparently some people seem to find that very romantic! Several Hunger Games-themed bridal photo-shoots popped up before the premiere of the film last month, earmarking a huge trend to come surrounding the famous series. The Wedding Event Institute announced a contest called “The Wedding Games,” where 12 planners and stylists will compete to create the best Katniss-inspired wedding. (You think anyone notices the irony about turning a dystopian horror story into part of a competition that feeds the completely corporate and over-the-top billion-dollar wedding industry…?) Hmm, well irony aside, some of the elements could translate pretty well: table numbers by District number, incorporating the herbs rue and katniss, as well as dandelions and primroses into a bouquet (you could even use the wilted dandelions to blow the spores onto the couple, instead of throwing rice!), and, of course, putting the bride’s hair into a long braid. (Fun Fact: Traditional Irish brides wore braids, as they were a symbol of feminine power and luck. Hmm… you think Suzanne Collins did that intentionally?) You could also easily come up with an entire menu, based on the absence and abundance of food Collins describes in the series – you could serve Katniss’s favorite lamb stew with plums, “sugar berry” jam, fresh-baked bread (or even bread for each district, like the seaweed kind from District 4 that Peeta describes), Mellark bakery’s cheese and apple tarts, hot chocolate from the train, Primrose’s basil-wrapped goat cheese, pudding the color of honey, and, of course, a beautifully detailed wedding cake adorned with handcrafted sugar flowers – just like the ones Peeta Mellark made while working in his father’s bakery. (Damn, you could start a whole restaurant out of the delicious treats Suzanne Collins describes! Those were just the dishes we could remember!) All of the shoots incorporated the forest setting, which makes sense since that’s where Katniss hunts in District 12 and fights in when she’s in the arena. Each of bridal models carried Katniss’s signature bow-and-arrow (considering that’s cupid’s weapon, that actually makes a lot of sense to incorporate that element). Green Wedding Shoes featured an adorable table setting with tree stumps for seats (pictured, above), and a bouquet of arrows in place of flowers (pictured, above left). We loved the stunning bright wildflowers and gorgeous table settings by Courtney Clarke Photography (pictured, below). Our favorite shoot was done by Stacie Shea Events (pictured, top and bottom). We found their use of berries, bread and bows-and-arrows to be the simplest, yet classiest. Their idea of having mini berry jams and tiny baker loaves as parting favors was particularly adorable (pictured, below), as well as recreating the Katniss and Peeta suicide pact (pictured, top left) that feels reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet (not that we’re encouraging it!) Each shoot included gorgeous wedding cakes decorated with mockingjays, but we’re surprised no one went with the descriptive passages Collins had written about Peeta’s beautiful floral handiwork on desserts. (We’re also surprised they didn’t include any gorgeous blonde grooms – guess these stylists and photographers were all Team Gale? Hehe. Although, a traditional wedding ceremony in District 12 features the bride and groom toasting bread – if the “girl on fire” and “the boy with the bread” marry, one would get toast…) Rustic wedding settings full of birch trees, evergreens and wildflowers do provide a naturally stunning venue, so it makes sense people might be drawn to creating a Hunger Games-esque wedding, but considering the amount of death and destruction that takes place over the series, we don’t think that was the message Suzanne Collins was trying to send… Katniss Everdeen is not a girl just trying to get a ring on it. Although, it’s not really fair for us to assume what the author would like, since all she ever wanted for her characters was happiness, and the prospect of hope. ❤

“Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games.” Peeta Mellark is the other tribute from District 12 that has to enter the arena with Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. For the film, he’s played by Josh Hutcherson, who it’s hard to believe, is only 19-years-old. He carried the entire movie Little Manhattan as a young boy, made us cry in Bridge to Terabithia, and really showed his acting skills as the son of a lesbian couple in the Oscar-nominated film The Kids are All Right. After auditioning for the role, author Suzanne Collins and director Gary Ross high-fived each other without saying a word when he left the room, because they knew they had found their Peeta. We usually don’t feature too many male outfits on theSkinnyStiletto, but Peeta is such an integral part of the story, we didn’t want to leave him out! Here, he’s wearing the matching outfit to Katniss’s arena digs – leather boots, a plain black t-shirt, and drab olive utilitarian pants (he has an identical jacket, as well, which is not pictured.) Costume design Judianna Makovsky told EW, “In the book, [the Tributes] all wear exactly the same thing in exactly the same color… For film, that wasn’t gonna work well. You couldn’t tell who is who. Gary was very specific. He wanted each district to have their own color jacket and then they would all have the same color trousers.” With all the hidden meanings of the characters’ names, it seems Peeta’s has stumped many of the readers… Our mother picked up that his surname, Mellark, probably comes from the word “malarkey,” which is slang for meaningless talk, or rubbish (hmm, just like the way he manipulates everyone with his words?) Most assume “Peeta” is derived from pita bread, since his father is a baker, which makes sense, but it also happens to be Scandinavian for “rock” – the perfect word to sum up “the boy with the bread.”